Hu Settles Dispute With Army Reservist

HAMPTON — An ex-police officer at the school alleged that he was fired illegally. Both parties agree not to talk about the details.

An Army reservist who alleged that he was illegally fired from Hampton University, after being called for active-duty training, has settled his complaint with the school.

The reservist, 34-year-old Perry Logan, had worked as a police officer for the school but lost his job after a summer training session with the Reserve. He brought his case before the U.S. Department of Labor because, he said, his firing violated federal laws designed to protect members of the military. He declined to discuss the settlement further, saying he signed a confidentiality agreement.

"Just to be able to move on, mostly," he said. Logan is training in South Carolina to become a full-time recruiter for the Army Reserve.

He will move back to Newport News next month to begin his new job.

Hampton University officials declined to comment, but they said earlier that they stood behind the decision to fire Logan.

According to a letter dated Aug. 27 and provided by Logan, the university's chief of police and director of human resources fired him Aug. 19 because of "job abandonment." Logan's orders for active-duty training kept him away from June 9 until Aug. 20.

The federal Uniformed Services Employment and Re-Employment Act of 1994 requires employers to preserve the jobs of employees called out on military orders. The law covers active-duty personnel, reservists in training, veterans and National Guard members.

The Department of Labor's Veterans' Employment and Training Service, or VETS, opened an investigation into Logan's case in early October.

Typically, settlement agreements include back pay for missed days at work and compensation for things such as health insurance or other benefits, said Paul Hinkhouse, VETS' state director. They often include re-employment, he said.

The Department of Labor does not have the authority to enforce any additional punishment against the employer. Confidentiality agreements signed by both parties don't happen all the time, he said, but sometimes come as part of a settlement.

"Parties just don't want ... feedback, depending on what the case is about," Hinkhouse said. "In this particular case, both parties agreed there would be confidentiality."

In Virginia, the Labor Department has investigated about 300 cases in the past year. *